False Saints, Feigned Piety

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In the land of the blind, the one eyed has to be the king; in the kingdom of immorality, even a pretension of probity is ticket to Sainthood. One does not have to wonder why the Aam Aadmi Party and its founder have become the cynosure in the public eyes in such a short time span despite having little to show in terms of experience, expertise or ability.

Delhi, a microcosm of the country with its varied hues of social, cultural and political overtones, has endeared itself to such a pretender to the throne who without proffering any pragmatic policy to solve the myriad problems has managed to set high sail on a sea of promises. It is interesting to observe the groundswell in favor of Mr. Kejriwal and his AAP given how little organizational experience and electioneering tactic they possess. To catch such fancy of a voting public that is fractured with massive fault lines is no small achievement.

What seems to be working in their favour is the very same factor that should be working against them, inexperience. No political party with even the thinnest of histories can get away with the kind of faux pas that AAP and Mr. Kejriwal are easily allowed to get away with. Media houses, election pundits and critics alike have decided to handle these misdemeanors with kid gloves serving the AAP generous dollops of undeserved benefits of doubt. While all this makes for excellent debutant’s luck how long this will last is anyone’s guess.

That Mr. Kejriwal is a sincere activist, there is no doubt to that. That Mr. Kejriwal is a clueless politician, there is no doubt to that either. When the Anna Hazare movement was orchestrated, the activism of Mr. Kejriwal came to the forefront. It would be a gross injustice if his early success were not to be acknowledged because it is on the strength of those achievements that he has managed to make an enviable entry into electoral politics. However, finesse in one aspect of public life does not necessarily translate into similar acumen in all other spheres. We need not look any further than our incumbent Prime Minister to understand this.

Dr. Singh is a stalwart economist but less said about his political skills the better. UPA 1 ambled through political minefields not under the leadership of Dr. Singh but because of the able maneuvering by Pranab Mukherjee. The sad story that UPA 2 has turned out to be bears strong testimony to this hypotheses; Mr. Mukherjee’s absence has ensured that the Government has managed to prove itself thoroughly rudderless. In all this, Dr. Singh has been a mute spectator. Not only has his administrative incapability been exposed, the economic theories that are his strongest suit have also come under strong criticism. Mr. Kejriwal, sadly enough, is exuding all signs of a similar decline.

For instance, if one were to consider the Tauqeer Raza controversy and judge Mr. Kejriwal’s response to criticism thereof, it would be apparent that his political acumen is grossly overrated. The realpolitik of elections mandates every political leader to wine and dine with certain controversial personalities. It is up to the skills of the leader to answer the questions that arise from such associations. Normally, Indian politicians with hides thicker than crocodiles are immune to criticism of such nature. Mostly, such meetings and the deals struck in them are cloaked cleverly to create an impression of nothing amiss.

The first mistake of Mr. Kejriwal was the public nature of his meeting with the Koran thumping Maulana. Mr. Kejriwal’s political compulsion to seek Muslim votes is well known. In the Delhi scheme of things, Muslims vote en bloc for the Congress. Unless Mr. Kejriwal manages to open a breach in this monolithic structure, his electoral prospects in most of the constituencies can take a severe beating. Delhi’s numerically significant middle class Muslim society is the most likely demography to break pattern and gravitate towards the AAP.

This is one segment that the BJP can claim no influence on and hence makes for an open field for Mr. Kejriwal to offer himself as an alternate to the Congress. His recent utterances and actions on sensitive matters such as the Batla House encounter are clear indications that he has set his crosshair on this stratum specifically. But the Congress hold on this vote bastion would be difficult to break because of Mr. Kejriwal’s previous association during the Hazare fast with Baba Ramdev who is openly viewed as a saffron sympathizer, a fact that the Congress will not be loath to tom-tom should the need arise. To balance such an Achilles’ heel, it was but natural that he would seek a similar association with a religious figurehead of the community that he wishes to endear himself to. From a purely political point of view, there is nothing wrong in this strategic move.

But Mr. Kejriwal need not have chosen the much maligned Maulana Raza Khan for this purpose. There is no dearth of Koran thumpers in the Delhi region and any one of them with a lesser affinity to beheadings and misogyny could have served the purpose. If anything, the middle class and moderate Muslim populace that he wishes to represent are less likely to take to the hardline thoughts of a fatwa man. Here Mr. Kejriwal and the think-tank of AAP, if there is one, bungled terribly. If the meeting was meant for pure demonstrative purposes, a better personality should have been chosen. If there were other compunctions such as funding or solicitation for muscle power, it should have been kept discrete. By doing neither, a can of worm was opened which led to a very avoidable loss of face.

It was not the act itself but the subsequent deer caught in the headlight reaction to the act that exposed the chinks in the armor. The AAP has been a media darling since the day of its inception. Not so much for the values or principles that it stands for but for the fact that it brings to table a certain novelty factor that none else is capable of that the media anchors go gaga over AAP. Basking in such glory has also given them unprecedented media time, all of it positive. Till the Maulana controversy, all the AAP had to do was send a representative, cluelessness and lack of debating abilities notwithstanding, to be there in the TV studio while the anchor does all the arguing for it. The Maulana issue posed the first challenge for them where they were for a change facing an unfriendly media.

The moronery apart, these media anchors who could be so condescending while speaking in favor, can turn into tearaway bullies when they wish to. And the AAP developed cold feet at the very prospect of this berating. So much so that they decided to completely boycott the TV studios that they throng to with such natural ease otherwise, on the night the controversy erupted. One would be at a loss to explain such absolute lack of fight from a party that aspires to beat thoroughbred political parties at their own game.

If Mr. Kejriwal wants to pose as the pretender to the throne, he should at the very least have shown a stomach for fight and faced the questions that were anyway results of his own actions. But this crusader chose to walk away from a battle. By doing so, he not only proved his total lack of personal courage but also inadvertently exposed the phony politics that he accuses his foes to be playing as his own game and no less. This was his second mistake.

The third mistake was juxtaposed a few days later. AAP and Mr. Kejriwal claimed that they were not aware of the antecedents of the Maulana. By just one single utterance, Mr. Kejriwal managed to serve two body blows on his own credibility.

One: What responsible political party does not check the credentials of the ideologues that it publicly holds dalliances with? Why should such a party be trusted with a mandate?

Two: Assuming their excuse of ignorance to be true, if the Maulana’s past deeds were known to the AAP functionaries, would they have not gone ahead with the meeting? Now that they are aware of his views, should not they criticize him and risk Muslim alienation? Such Quixotic behavior ought to raise existential questions on a party’s viability. Had it not been for the forgiving attitude shown by the print and electronic media, AAP would have become a stale joke by now.

The pretense of saintliness of AAP has been on the rise ever since. Their rhetoric against the establishment and all its shortcomings matches religious fervor. Now, this is a dangerous path to tread for such rage of righteousness also demands equal probity on part of the righteous. But when you find anchors of an MTV show who would be revered as Shakespeares if only profanity were a language in the midst of this holier than thou lot you should know that this has been a charade all along.

How is this act of using a couple of TV rednecks for campaigning any different from the mainstream political parties parading one washed up actor after the other to endorse their brand of politics? Does this not smack of the same ideological debauchery that the AAP is so fond of alleging its rivals to be guilty of?

The fact is Mr. Kejriwal has lost the plot before the drama has even begun. He may very well win a few seats in Delhi but he has already lost the ideological ground that he has propped himself on. This flight of Icarus is fast approaching the sun. We shall see how long the glue of deceit holds the wings of the false angel.

Why do you think the business-savvy media had been ‘forgiving’ after all, if there is no reason for them? What endeared Kejriwal to media is just what made him fizzle down Anna Hazare’s movement, just what made him protest Bharatmata picture on Anna Hazare’s stage. His inherent anti-Hindu nature. Why should he be given benefit of doubt when his actions are clear? It is not just Maulana or the fake encounter or stray events. What exactly is his view of Indian unity? Kejriwal is anything but sincere. He hogged the limelight for a movement organized by several organizations and killed it for his political mileage.

rajesh

Kejriwal is a Communist/leftist and an urban naxal. These two words define all his characteristics.
Do some Purva-Paksha on communist/leftist in Bharat. Study history of Communists in Bharat, know about their behavior, ideology, character. You will find everything in Kejriwal. I am surprised by people’s surprise when, Kejriwal met this Mullah.
This is what, these communist/Leftist have been doing all along. They align with all anti Hindu, anti Bharat elements to destroy our Rastra.

Naxals are working with Christian Missionaries in remote areas of Central Bharat.
All communists in Nepal have converted to Christianity. In Bengal, they are working with Islamic jihadi elements. Same in Kerala.
The Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu is again controlled by Christian Missionaries.

Kejriwal, Prashant, Arundhati, Aruna, and Media groups are all controlled by these Christian and Islamic forces. Bollywood is controlled by Islamic forces.

Reality is very frightening. Hindus have become weak. Do not have guts to face reality, forget about fighting.
Hence, they are hiding their impotency behind Cricket and Sachin.

RVenkatanarayanan

What exactly the ideology and governance principles and program of Kejriwal and his AAP ? It alright to rage in righteousness outside electoral arena but having once decided to enter it mere single-point anti-corruption rhetoric will not do. May be Kejriwal gathers a couple of Assembly seats and this thanks to the high quality IT and management professionals working for him and the AAP. But I do not see much beyond that from or for the AAP. Probably Kejriwal is hoping that AAP may play a kind of a king-maker in Delhi government of the future. But even this is unlikely. The immaturity of these crusaders is appalling not only in complicated governance issues but even in respect of blatantly bigoted Muslims in religious politics masquerading as “secularists”.

AAP, as they want to be called, has an ironic dichotomy between the name they fondly want to be called and their personal possession. If it is Aam Aadmi, I wonder how can a group of Crorepatis, highest being Shazia with 30CR to her name, claim to be be one. It is a known fact that the Bhushans, both father and son, are typical land sharks and millionaires. Their personal contribution of 1CR to the Anna Movement initially and later on siphoned off towards the exchequer of the AAP itself is suspect. Kejriwal has 9 criminal cases against him live in court. He has over 1CR stashed away in the bank apart from the static wealth he and his wife jointly possess. I don’t want to mention the rest. To say that they want to work for the Aam Aadmi is laughable in the sense that all their political ideology is borrowed material from the BJP and Congress. That they chose the movement of Anna to their own benefit and made use of it with a group passionate to the point of unreasonableness is needless to be said.

As I read and write this, there is a huge ruckus going on with a Anna supporter hurling ink on the Kejriwal entourage during a press conference. He loudly claims that the AAP has utilized the Anna fame and fortune to their personal benefit while turning political.

With neither political substance nor morals, they will not walk far in the current political environment of India. They should not, rather.

Chandan Kumar

Dear Mr KPP… I am sad to see such an offensive response against a person who had at least taken the responsibility of cleaning the mess all around u and around us.
U r worrying about 1 crore of wealth which he may/may not possess, but how many times did you write an article against the billions and billions of dollars stashed by the ruling community in the Swiss bank.

guest

What do you mean he may or ‘may not’ possess? He is a crorepati. And so are other important people in that party. Bhushan is wealthy. And an ideological maoist & pro-Kashmiri separatist. It is a left-wing moronic party that seeks to follow systems that are outdated and unfit to end corruption.
You keep saying they want to end corruption. How? These are claims that we – let me say it like you – ‘may or may NOT’ take seriously. They suffer from having no track record so how do we know what is going to happen? It remains just a claim from the AAP.
Now let’s take the claim seriously. Let’s say they actually do want to eliminate corruption as they keep saying Again ask, How? With their policies, it is not going to happen.
Kejriwal ko saare khoon maaf? Dining with Islamists for votes? sab maaf? Tough questions outside corruption issue? Wo bhi maaf?
Grow up.
Why do people stash money in swiss banks & not here? Because our governments have not incentivised investment. This is the primary reason. Sadly, the Indian way I to let the shit hit the fan and only then react. So I know morons like you will vote for Kejriwal irrespective of what anyone ‘may or may not’ say. But these points are being provided to you so that we can point to the constituencies of the AAP & show how pathetic their performance has been.

Anon

AAP’s popularity is media’s invention all together. They have managed to attract so many young men by selling the idea that party ruled by IITians and “some” award winners is good for the country, all this by cleverly masking the dubious acquaintances of its party leaders and their brittle ideologies. Anna’s recent public level distancing from AAP further proves their inefficiency. As foretold by many, this new party was always conceptualized for dividing the vote share…I would not be surprised if they manage to do so!

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